Another midfielder and one that doesn't score many at that? Hmm. I think we should be more concerned with selling midfielders than signing them at the moment. A new midfielder would be fairly low down my list of priorities for the summer but hey, I'm no manager.

If he's what Pochettino wants then he's someone we should try hard to get. We missed a trick when AVB signed with not signing Moutinho or Hulk, a player who he's familiar with and one that knows the manager well and believes in him. When 'Arry came in he was allowed to bring in a few Portsmouth players and I think that helped speed up the success we had with him.

Schnederlin didn't stop us putting 3 past them at their place so what makes him the defensive solution for us?

In general we were alright with our midfielders shielding the defence. What we really struggled with was a very high number of individual defensive errors, in particular our centre backs and Naughton were responsible. Schneiderlin isn't going to make much difference in shielding our defence compared to Sandro, Dembele and Capoue.

He sure can dictate games and did - when he was played in CMF and not as winger (as Tim did). Being a link between mf and attack doesn't mean you cannot dicate games.

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This little disagreement seems to be due to various definitions of the term "dictate." You're both right, but usually the term "dictate" in application to the midfield does typically apply to a player a bit more reserved who can control the entirety of the game. They tend to have a bit more influence due to their position and view of the field.

So while you're right that Eriksen can certainly control quite a few aspects of a game, Murray is right that we do lack a player at the moment who can take more control of the game from deep with his defending, positioning, and dispersal. We have not had such a player since Modric.

Playing a similar position as he does for Brazil, being used to break up play when defending and hitting the box late in attack

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I agree this would be a good role for him, though Dembele had the best tackling stats out of Himself, Capoue, Sandro, Paulinho and even Schneiderlin, winning the most tackles per 90 mins and loosing the least.

That said, I think Dembele will be the one to go as he holds onto the ball too long.

I think Poch is going to have to chance his set up with us, as we will face more parked buses and will be afforded less space.

Spurs9 as a side we are so static, too many players stand there waiting for ball to feet.

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I agree, judging by the comments form his former players, Poch should fix that part of it, but even then, there is a big difference between how sides play against us than how they play against Southampton.

Schnederlin didn't stop us putting 3 past them at their place so what makes him the defensive solution for us?

In general we were alright with our midfielders shielding the defence. What we really struggled with was a very high number of individual defensive errors, in particular our centre backs and Naughton were responsible. Schneiderlin isn't going to make much difference in shielding our defence compared to Sandro, Dembele and Capoue.

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Doesn't work as an argument. You could say Lloris didn't stop us getting stuffed repeatedly but it doesn't make him an inferior player. Building a team is about getting the cogs that fit together and that's what top managers do. I don't know if Schneiderlin would be a good fit but Pochettino presumably knows what he wants.

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